MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Stevie Moses (Leominster, Mass.) registered his second career hat trick, potting four goals and earning Most Valuable Player honors as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team skated to a 4-1 win over Dartmouth College in the Battle for the RiverStone Cup XI at Verizon Wireless Arena.

UNH improves to 8-11-2. Dartmouth moves to 7-7-2. The Wildcats improve to 7-3-1 in the RiverStone Cup series.

For Moses, the four goals match a career high he netted previously against Alabama-Huntsville on Nov. 26, 2011, at the Whittemore Center Arena. Moses scored in all fascets of the game with two power play goals, a shorthanded goal and an even-strength tally. Kevin Goumas (Long Beach, N.Y. - three assists) and Trevor van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J. - two assists) registered multi-point efforts for the Wildcats. New Hampshire has not lost back-to-back games to Dartmouth since 1979-80 a span of 26 contests. Casey DeSmith (Rochester, N.H.) earned his second-consecutive win as he stopped 21 shots including 14 in the final frame.

The Big Green struck first just 8:24 into the game on their first shot of the game. As time expired on a UNH power play, Dartmouth advanced the puck up ice as Matt Lindblad scored with assists from Doug Jones and Taylor Boldt. New Hampshire tied the contest, 1-1, with a 5-on-3 goal at 15:03 of the period. Moses netted his first of the night from the center slot. Goumas won a battle for a loose puck behind the DC net and slid the puck to van Riemsdyk at the right circle. The defenseman moved the puck to Moses in the slot. UNH held 16-4 shot in the period thanks in part to a 1-4 power play effort in the period.

Moses netted a pair of second period goals to give UNH a 3-1 edge at the second intermission. The first goal was a short-handed tally at 1:03 of the period. Goumas carried into the zone, Moses slid the puck from forehand to backhand and beat Big Green netminder James Mello for a 2-1 Wildcat advantage. The second of the frame came on the power play as Moses backhanded in the rebound of a Connor Hardowa (Edmonton, Alberta) point shot. van Riemsdyk slid the puck from the right point to Hardowa on the left to setup the tally at 15:50 of the second. UNH outshot Dartmouth 7-4 in the period.

Moses closed out scoring in the game with an even-strength tally at 7:27. Nick Sorkin (Rockville, Md) and Goumas assisted on the goal. Sorkin gathered the rebound of a Goumas shot from behind the net and fed Moses out in the center slot. Dartmouth held a 14-9 shot advantage, but UNH held a 32-22 edge of the contest.

UNH went 2-5 on the power play and netted a shorthanded goal, while Dartmouth was 0-3 in its extra-skater opportunities.

DeSmith improves to 2-2-0 on the season, while counterpart James Mello is now 3-5-1, stopping 28 shots including 15 in the first period.

UNH returns to action on Jan. 20-21 in a home-and-home series against Merrimack College. The Wildcats will travel to North Andover, Mass. on Friday night (7 p.m.) and will play host to the Warriors on Saturday night at Whittemore Center. Saturday night's game is slated for a 7 p.m. start live on WBIN-TV. Tickets for the Merrimack game and all remaining UNH home games are available online at www.UNHWildcats.com.